When Is It Permissible to Study Kabbalah?

It is stated in the Book of Proverbs (Chapter 25): "It is the glory of Hashem to conceal a matter." Rashi explained: "The glory of Hashem - such as the Act of the Chariot and the Act of Creation, which are the secrets of the Torah." In Tractate Chagigah (13a) the Talmud states: "Secrets of the Torah are entrusted only to one who possesses five attributes: a captain of fifty, respected, a counselor, a wise craftsman, and understanding in a whisper." The Talmud explains: "A captain of fifty refers to one who knows how to carry and give in the Five Books of the Torah. Respected is one who, due to him, his generation receives favor (meaning that by his merit no trouble befalls the world). A counselor is one who knows how to intercalate years and determine months. A wise craftsman is a student who makes his teachers wiser. An understanding in a whisper is one who comprehends one matter from another; to such a person, it is appropriate to entrust the secrets of the Torah, which are said in whispers."

The Gra (Vilna Gaon) wrote that his source is from the Talmud in Tractate Chagigah as mentioned. Likewise, Rabbi Chaim Vital, the student of Rabbi Isaac Luria, wrote that a scholarly student who studies the Torah for its own sake must first engage in the Bible, the Mishnah, and the Talmud to the extent that his intellect can endure, and only thereafter should he engage in Torah Kabbalah. The Gra, in his commentary on the Book of Proverbs, wrote that it is inconceivable for someone who has not studied the Talmud and Halakhic rulings sufficiently and is not proficient in laws and judgments to engage in matters greater and more wondrous than he by learning the secrets of the Torah. Maimonides wrote that even great sages of the Talmud, out of humility, refrained from engaging in Kabbalah, as we find in the Talmud that Rabbi Eliezer and other sages abstained from studying Kabbalah for various reasons. From this, we learn that not everyone who desires to study Kabbalah is permitted to do so because of its great depth and sanctity.

Rema, in his book Torat HaOlah, wrote that there are many from the general populace who rush to study Kabbalah, which is a delight to the eyes, such as the Zohar, Recanati, and Shaarei Orah, even though their words are closed and limited, and not truly understood. Not only that, but we see householders who do not know the Torah well and walk in darkness, and they leap to study Kabbalah. This is because the generation is orphaned, and a lone coin in a barrel makes much noise, but when the barrel is full of coins, it makes no noise, just as an empty person who knows only a bit of Kabbalah creates a big stir. For this reason, all who suffer will mourn, and some who have learned a little Kabbalah boast and publicly preach its teachings, and they will have to account for it. Similarly, Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Eidels wrote, and so it is ruled in the book Chayei Adam, that it is forbidden for a person to study Kabbalah unless he has filled his belly with the study of the Talmud and its commentators, has great fear of Hashem, and is constantly engaged in Torah, but for someone who has not reached this level, it is forbidden to study Kabbalah.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (author of Ben Ish Chai), great in Kabbalah, when he was around twenty-five, thought of starting to study Kabbalah. But when the great sage Rabbi Eliyahu Many Zt'l heard of this, he wrote him a letter to prevent him from studying Kabbalah. Similar events occurred with many of the great legal authorities who only permitted the study of Kabbalah when the conditions previously mentioned were fulfilled.

All this applies even to God-fearing individuals who observe the commandments, but what we find in our time are institutions for the study and dissemination of Kabbalah, where boys and girls of different ages study together, and even Satan stands among them. Surely, they are not apt for the study of Kabbalah, which requires holiness and purity. The Holy Zohar already spoke harshly about those who impart the secrets of Torah and the mysteries of Kabbalah to people dominated by the evil inclination. It is unnecessary to elaborate on matters that are clear and well-known. One must greatly distance themselves from such institutions and Kabbalah departments at universities, which lack Torah, Kabbalah, and fear of Heaven, and those who guard their souls should steer clear of them.

Legal rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef SHLITA courtesy of the "Halacha Yomit" website